One of the first things GM Sam Presti discussed in his preseason address was the Oklahoma City Thunder's plans to honor Russell Westbrook. Without getting into specific details, Presti reflected on the future Hall of Fame guard's influence in Oklahoma City, including the fans' adoration, and how he watched Westbrook blossom into a star.

Westbrook's influence on the Thunder remains felt today, as Jared McCain sang the nine-time All-Star's praises ahead of 2026-27. Before looking ahead to the upcoming season, Presti looked back on when he first learned about Westbrook's retirement announcement over the summer.

“I took my family to Italy this summer for a vacation and to explore ancestry stuff because that's where half of my father's side of the family is from, and it was the night before we were coming home,” Presti said. “We're just in a van coming back from something my wife had scheduled for us. I don't have social media. So, Matt is the king of the screenshots. He sends me screenshots of things. So, I got a screenshot of it, and I think I got real quiet, to be honest with you.

“It hit me pretty hard. I just wasn't expecting that. Then, about an hour later, he called me. We had a great conversation. I guess it makes you feel old because I remember sitting with him. His first workout with us; he got injured halfway through.”

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Sam Presti couldn't help but share Russell Westbrook's story of when he first workout for the Thunder before the UCLA product was selected fourth overall in the 2008 NBA Draft.

“He went back. He couldn't finish the workout. We didn't tell the agent that we really were thinking about him with the fourth pick. So, it was a big deal,” Presti added. “Kept trying to get him to come back to work out. They wouldn't bring him back. They thought he would go much further back. So we just kept trying and trying and trying to get him back. And eventually, it was like, well, he's gotta go to New York. And I ended up flying out with Troy Weaver, who's influential in this entire thing, to Beverly Hills to watch Russell work out.

“But I was really there to talk to him. I didn't really need to see the workout. I just needed to get in front of him, look in his eyes, and see if he could handle what would come if we picked him fourth, because it would be an avalanche of criticism. We knew that. And kind of walked him through that, and he convinced me. He was underselling himself; he could handle it.”

Presti also thought back to the last time he spoke to Westbrook face-to-face ahead of this year's draft, and how it felt like a full-circle moment from the 19-year-old guard he drafted back in 2008.